ANDERSON, SC -- Cromer Food Services was the runner up in the 2013 Verizon Wireless Technology Innovation Awards. It received a $5,000 prize for using technology in an innovative way.

Cromer has provided vending services in South Carolina and Georgia for three decades. It recently began to upgrade all of its machines with USA Technologies' ePort card readers to provide cashless convenience to its customers and leverage wireless access to machine sales data.

"I noticed that few people under 40 carry cash, so by installing a card swipe on existing vending machines, sales instantly jumped by as much as 22%" said Brent Cromer, president of the vending company.

Cromer's route drivers use handheld computers to help manage inventory. Accurate inventory counts are now sent over Verizon Wireless's 4G LTE network so delivery vehicles carry only the supplies they need to restock machines.

"Improving the efficiency of our inventory management system has increased the capacity on board our vehicles by 50%. The additional items we place on the trucks drives revenue growth for us," Cromer said.